Sheet-guiding device for saturating tanks



2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 I T. F, CALDWELL. SHEET GUIDING DEVICE FOR SATURATING TANKS.

Fl LE0 lilac. 24. 1919.

Feb. 6, 1923'.

Feb. 6, 1923.

T. F. CALDWELL. SHEET GUIDING DEVICE FOR SATURATING TANKS.

2 SHEETS'SHEET 2 FILED DEc. 24. 1919 Patented F eb. 6, 1923.

THOMAS F. CALDWELL, OF CARLSTADT, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE rLIN'rxoTE COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSAC HUSETTS,

SHEET-GUIDING DEVICE FOR SATURATING TANKS.

Application filed December 24, 1919. Serial No. 347,220.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, THOMAS F. CALDWELL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Carlstadt, in the county of Bergen and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvements in Sheet-Guiding Devices for SaturatingTanks, of which the following is a specificatio This invention has relation .to apparatus for treating fabrics, such for example as impregnating paper felt with a waterproofing compound in the manufacture of prepared roofing. In such manufacture, the asphalt or other bituminous compound is contained 16 in a tank, and, when it is in a molten or liquid condition, the felt sheet is drawn through it,,so as to absorb the hot molten material in the pores or interstices thereof.

According to the materials of which it is 20 made an other conditions surrounding its production, the felt varies in its absorbent characteristics, and consequently the length of time in which it is immersed in the 1mpregnating compound must be increased or decreased, in order that standard roofing felt carrying a predetermined percentage of the compound may be produced. Thls-period of immersion may likewise depend upon the viscosity of the impregnating compound.

The period of immersion of the fabric 1n the compound may be varied by 1ncreasmg or decreasing the speed of its travel therethrough, or it may be varied by increasing or decreasing the length of the immersed portion of the fabric, i. e. that portion which at any one time is passing through the com pound. There are serious ob ect1ons to greatly varying the speed of travel of the sheet, since decreasing the speed effects a decrease inproduction, in addition to slowing down the other instrumentalities which op erate upon the saturated or impregnated sheet. It follows then that optimum results (all other things being equal) may be obtained by varying the lengthof. the 1mmersed portion of the fabric.

-I-Ieretofore it has been the pract ce to thread or pass the fabric under rolls or guides'located below the level of the compound in the saturating tank, and this operation 1s a diflicult and a dangerous one, where the impregnating compound is heated to a high temperature or contains materials liable to affect the health or well being of the operatives. that employed in the manufacture of prepared roofing, because of the necessity of having it highly porous and absorbent, does not possess great tensile strength, and, in the practical manufacture of such roofing, it sometimes happens that the felt is parted andkmust be rethreaded through the vat or tan The present invention has for its object to provide a saturating tank with guiding means for the sheet, which may be withdrawn from the tank far enough to permit the sheet to be threaded or passed around them, and then be immersed in the contents of the tank, seas to cause the sheet thereafter totravel through the saturating compound. Another object of the invention is to provide some means for varying the period of time in which any given portion of the traveling fabric is immersed in the bath of compound, without varying the speed of travel of the fabric. .7

.On the accompanying drawings is illus-, trated an apparatus embodying the invention, which will hereinafter be described in deta l.

Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the apparatus, the tank being broken ofi at its ends.

Figure. 2 rep-resents a transverse vertical section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

I have not shown the instrumentalities by which the sheet is drawn or caused to travel through the tank, nor the squeeze rolls by which the surplus compound is removed from the impregnated sheet, as these are well known and form no part of the present invention. It suflices to say that the sheetfeedin instrumentalities are intended to cause 51c sheet to travel at a uniform speed, and may be stopped and started at the will Paper felt of the nature of be varied if desired.

The tank is indicated at 10, being of the requisite length, width and depth, and, when the saturant is asphalt or is of a bituminous or resinous nature, is provided with means for heating the: saturant and maintaining it at the high temperature necessary to ensure arelatively low viscosity. Near the ends of the tank are guide rolls 11, 12, which are preferably above the level of the saturating compound indicated by the dotted line a,-a. The sheet of felt is indicated at 13, and it is looped about suitable guides 14, 15, 16 and 17 which with convenience may be formed as rolls. These guides are so arranged that those at 14, 16, and those at 15, .17, may be bodily adjusted toward and from each other to vary the distance between them, and thus to vary the lengths of'the loops of the sheet. Moreover, all'the rolls may be vertically adjusted to immerse them in and withdraw them from the body of the saturant. The rolls 14, 16, are journaled in the lower ends .of a pair of upright slides 18 which are movable in guides 19 afiorded by standards 20 rigidly secured to the sides of the tank. Each slide is formed as or provided with a rack 21, and meshing with the racks are pinions 22 fast upon a shaft 23. Said shaft is journaled in bearings afforded by the standards 20, and is provided at one or both ends with a hand wheel 24 by which it may be rotated in either direction.

The rolls 15, 17 are likewise mounted in upright slides 25, movable in guides 26 (similar to those at 19) afforded by upright standards 27. In this case, however, the standards are not fixed to the sides of the tank but are gibbed to slide on horizontal guideways 28 extending longitudinally of and secured to the sidesof the tank. A shaft 29 journaled in the upper ends of the standards 27 has pinions 3O meshing with racks 31 formed on or secured to said slides 25, anda hand wheel 32 by which it may be rotated. The standards 27 constitute a longi tudinally movable carriage, which is fed lengthwise of the tank, toward and from the fixed standards 20, by a shaft 33 having pinions 34 meshing with racks 35 secured to the tank. A hand wheel 36 on the'shaft 33 affords means by which it may be rotated to effect the movement of the carriage and the guides 15, 17, supported thereby.

When it is desired to introduce a new sheet of fabric into the apparatus, the shafts 23 and 29 are rotated by means of their respective hand wheels to move the slides upwardly until the sheet guides supported thereby are above the level of the saturating compound. The sheet is then looped back and forth around the guides 14;, 15, 16, 17 as shown, to form the bights 12 12?, 12, after which the slides are depressed to immerse the guides and the bights in the saturant. The sheet, as shown, enters the bath of saturating compound at the point indicated at 40, and, after passing around the guides, emerges at a corresponding point, between the guide 17 and the guide 11, so that, during the travel of the sheet, a predetermined length thereof is in constant immersion. Should it be found that the sheet, because of its texture or of the viscosity of the compound, is not absorbing the desired .amount of the compound, the guides 15, 17

may be further spaced or separated from the guides 14, 16, so as to increase the length of the fabric immersed in the saturant, and the duration of the immersion of each part of the fabric. On the other hand, the guides may be brought nearer together, when occasion requires, to shorten the period of immersion and the length of fabric submerged in the compound at any one time.

Of 0011] se, the number of guides which are supported by the slides or carriers 18, 25, may be varied as desired.

It is evident that the invention, as defined in the claims, is capable of many different embodiments. I desire to have it understood that I have not attempted to show the parts of the apparatus, as herein described, in their relative sizes or dimensions, and that the phraseology herein employed is for the pur ose of description and not of limitation.

aving thus explained the nature of my said invention and described a way of making and using the same, although Without attempting to set forth all of the forms in which it may be made or all of the modes of its use, what I claim is:

1. Sheet treating apparatus comprisingatank for containing a body of liquid saturating compound, a pair of spaced carriers, guide rollers carried by each carrier and about which sheet material may be looped between said carriers, means for moving said carriers toward and from each other to vary the length of material passing about said rollers, and means for independently raising said carriers to bring said rollers above the surface of the saturating liquid in said tank.

2. Sheet-treating apparatus comprising a tank-for containing a body of liquid saturating compound, guides for a travelling-sheet to guide the same through the saturating compound, spaced carriers for said guides, and means for moving one of said carriers toward and from the other.

3. Sheet-treating apparatus comprising a tank for containing a body of liquid saturating compound, guides for a travelling sheet to guide the same through the saturating compound, means for moving said guides one in reference to the other to increase the length of fabric undergoing immersion in the compound, and means for bodily ele- 1 ently raising andlowering said carriers to immerse their respective ides in or raise them from said body o liquid, and the 10 means for moving one of said carriers bodily towardand from the other of said carriers.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature.

THOMAS F. CALDWELL. 

